Moffat County School Board may cancel election

Open seats still are going uncontested

A November election for three open seats on the Moffat County School Board is one step closer to being canceled after Thursday's board meeting.

Only three candidates came forward to put their names on the ballot, two of which are running for re-election.

On Thursday, the School Board approved, 7-0, an intergovernmental election agreement, which included information about costs of voter polls and newspaper ads.

The next minute, however, the board passed a resolution, also 7-0, to cancel the election in the event that no other candidates appear before the Sept. 1 write-in deadline.

District administrative assistant Vicki Duncan said she didn't anticipate any other candidates running in the election.

"That's never really happened," she said. "So this just gives me the power to cancel the election myself so we don't have to wait until the next board meeting to do it."

Districts 2, 4 and 6 are open for election.

Board chairman Rod Durham, of District 6, is term limited.

Sandie Johns, of District 4, and Karen Stillion, of District 2, have served for four years and are seeking re-election. A third candidate, Christine Balderston, has turned in a petition for the District 6 seat.

And if no one steps forward in the next few days as a write-in candidate, the next School Board will be set Sept. 1.

"It's not necessarily a good thing," Johns said about the resolution to cancel the election. "It would be nice to have more interest and to have people step forth who would like to volunteer time to help the district."

However, she said she is excited to continue to support the district, even though another four years might seem like a big commitment.

"Four years is a long time," she said. "But it really takes four years to understand things like the budget. Only now have I really gotten a grasp on the complicated things."

Should she earn a seat, Balderston won't go into her first board meeting cold.

If the election is canceled, she will be invited to events such as the Colorado State Board of Education meeting in Steamboat Springs next month and attend workshops designed for new board members.

Also, Superintendent Joe Petrone will sit down with Balderston to go over meeting procedures.

"We have an excellent board right now," Johns said. "This is the board that hired the new superintendent, and we're all excited to keep working with him. Some years I've observed the School Board, it's seemed stiff. This board is not stiff, and we interact very well. I think a new person will get in that interaction, and they'll find it's comfortable and not overwhelming."